“I was really looking forward to the break over Christmas, but was disappointed.”
Firstly, no welcome pack, not even a pint of milk to make a hot drink on arrival. Secondly, the heating instructions were straight forward, except they did not work as given. I found the boiler, one I was familiar with, the heat settings were so low that at this time of year would have been useless. I reset everything and the the instructions were able to work. So went to make a hot drink and found that the kettle was leaking onto the base - not safe! Use a saucepan initially. Still decided to unpack, in the master bedroom there is shown 3 wardrobes / storage areas which all had locks. Only one was open for us to use, inside was an ironing board and extra bedding which meant at a push only one person could use it - not happy. I contacted the owner to advise of the kettle issue, owner eventually allowed us to purchase a new one on her behalf as there was no way she could replace it until after Christmas. I also enquired about the wardrobes, to be told that the others were full with laundry and cleaning products - there is no mention of this in your information. Then I was told that there was additional space in the other room that we should use. This was occupied by a female and would not have been a satisfactory arrangement.
So once all these issues became apparent it coloured our view of the property so that all little irritants became even more noticeable including the condensation on the windows, which spoiled the outlook and had been mentioned by others. We had checked the visitors book, and most people appeared to be happy, but there was one entry that was critical, which is OK, but wrote PTO and the end of some comments - I did - only to find that a page appeared to have been removed?
The area as always was fine and in general we enjoyed our activities, we also passed on an issue caused by the storm which swept through the are Wed/Thur and advised she got her property maintenance people to check it out as water gained access to the roof. Basically, the property needs TLC to get it up to standard, but I will not be considering it for further use.
It has also coloured my view of using Sykes in the future, we'll have to see as I have not had this type of experience before.
Thanks for your feedback and I am sorry to hear you were not as happy as others have been. I feel that I acted as soon as I could re the kettle - it was Christmas Eve, after all, and difficult to procure an Amazon delivery over that time period.
There is a large wardrobe for use in both bedrooms - and a large chest of drawers in one - space has never been an issue before.
Condensation has always been an issue in these homes - but with prudent use of opening a window fractionally when cooking, and turning on the air vent above the cooker, and also wiping down any early morning condensation that occurs, is never an overriding issue.
We have just spent time at the property doing maintenance and it really is looking well loved for the season ahead. Our builders found that there was no issue with the roof.
And no, we would never remove any pages from the visitors’ book - just not the way we are. Over the past ten or so years, there have been occasional negative comments made alongside many many positive ones - both are welcome to help us provide guests with a happy holiday experience!
Property Owner
